Google Drive Gets Fresh New Material Design Look To Match Gmail

After giving Gmail a major visual overhaul this past April, Google has now also updated Drive with newer Material Design elements, providing the web client a slight interface upgrade.

The new design makes Drive more "responsive and efficient," says Google, and it also feels "cohesive" with the rest of the G Suite apps, including Calendar and Gmail.

"We built that this new interface to create a responsive and efficient experience for Drive users, and to feel cohesive with other G Suite products, such as the recently redesigned Gmail," Google wrote in a blog post.

Drive Gets A New Look

Drive now features a "+ New" button akin to the "+ Compose" button on Gmail. Clicking this opens up options to create a new Doc, Sheet, Slide, or initiate a new upload. Previously, this was just a plain button labeled "New."

The background is now stark white instead of an off-white color in the previous design. Various cards for files, folders, and those for Quick Access now employ rounded and fainter outlines, giving a much cleaner overall look. Google has also changed the font for headers.

G Suite users who have custom company logos will now see that on the top right part of the page instead of top left. It sits right beside the user's profile picture.

Finally, the help and settings icon has been relocated to the right of the search bar for much quicker access.

Google Drive Redesign Release Date

Despite big changes in design, Google notes that there's no actual change in functionality, so don't expect to find new features in the latest update — just a fresh new look. The updated user interface is still rolling out, so other users might have to wait for several weeks before it goes live.

Material Design

Drive has used Google's Material Design for quite some time, so the new look isn't as drastic as Gmail's redesign, but it's still a nice visual refresh. Calendar also went through a major overhaul in October 2017, which made the app feel less cluttered and ancient-looking.

Users should probably start getting used to the changes, as Google is committed to implementing its new design into all of its apps sooner or later.

Thoughts about Google Drive's slightly new look? What about the Material Design principle in general? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!